We previously showed that histone variant H2A.Z is critical for the self-renewal and differentiation by maintaining an open chromatin structure at key regulatory regions of transcription. It is also known that pluripotency of embryonic stem (ES) cells is controlled in part by chromatin-modifying factors that regulate histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methylation. However, it remains unclear how H3K4 demethylation contributes to ES cell function. We showed that KDM5B, which demethylates lysine 4 of histone H3, co-localizes with H3K4me3 near promoters and enhancers of active genes in ES cells; its depletion leads to spreading of H3K4 methylation into gene bodies and enhancer shores, indicating that KDM5B functions to focus H3K4 methylation at promoters and enhancers. Spreading of H3K4 methylation to gene bodies and enhancer shores leads to differential gene expression during self-renewal and differentiation of Kdm5b depleted ES cells, and decreased enhancer activity, as measured by H3K27ac levels. KDM5B critically regulates H3K4 methylation at bivalent genes during differentiation in the absence of LIF or Oct4. We also show that KDM5B and LSD1, another H3K4 demethylase, co-regulate H3K4 methylation at active promoters but they retain distinct roles in demethylating gene body regions and bivalent genes. Our results provide global and functional insight into the role of KDM5B in regulating H3K4 methylation marks near promoters, gene bodies, and enhancers in ES cells and during differentiation. We have recently addressed the regulation of histone variant H3.3 deposition in chromatin. The histone variant H3.3 plays a critical role in maintaining the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) by regulating gene expression programs important for lineage specification. H3.3 is deposited by various chaperones at regulatory sites, gene bodies and certain heterochromatic sites such as telomeres and centromeres. Using Tet-inhibited expression of epitope-tagged H3.3 combined with ChIP-Seq we undertook genome-wide measurements of H3.3 dissociation rates across the ESC genome and examined the relationship between H3.3-nucleosome turnover and ESC-specific transcription factors, chromatin modifiers and epigenetic marks. Our comprehensive analysis of H3.3 dissociation rates revealed distinct H3.3 dissociation dynamics at various functional chromatin domains. At transcription start sites, H3.3 dissociates rapidly with the highest rate at nucleosome-depleted regions (NDRs) just upstream of Pol II binding, followed by low H3.3 dissociation rates across gene bodies. H3.3 turnover at transcription start sites, gene bodies and transcription end sites was positively correlated with transcriptional activity. H3.3 is found decorated with various histone modifications that regulate transcription and maintain chromatin integrity. We find greatly varying H3.3 dissociation rates across various histone modification domains: high dissociation rates at active histone marks and low dissociation rates at heterochromatic marks. Well- defined zones of high H3.3-nucleosome turnover were detected at binding sites of ESC-specific pluripotency factors and chromatin remodelers, suggesting an important role for H3.3 in facilitating protein binding. Among transcription factor binding sites we detected higher H3.3 turnover at distal cis-acting sites compared to proximal genic transcription factor binding sites. Our results imply that fast H3.3 dissociation is a hallmark of interactions between DNA and transcriptional regulators. Our study demonstrates that H3.3 turnover and nucleosome stability vary greatly across the chromatin landscape of embryonic stem cells. The presence of high H3.3 turnover at RNA Pol II binding sites at extragenic regions as well as at transcription start and end sites of genes, suggests a specific role for H3.3 in transcriptional initiation and termination. On the other hand, the presence of well-defined zones of high H3.3 dissociation at transcription factor and chromatin remodeler binding sites point to a broader role in facilitating accessibility.